


The Birds' Path

by Minutia_R



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Afterlife, Gen, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 12:43:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9182305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minutia_R/pseuds/Minutia_R
Summary: If Tuuri is going to die, she should at least get an afterlife road trip out of it.(Featuring the Hotakainens' A+ communication skills.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> All the cool kids are doing it ...

The tank handles more smoothly than it ever has. Lalli sits up front with Tuuri, and for once he doesn't look sleepy. He watches the road intently.

“Come on, talk to me,” says Tuuri. “It’s the last time I’ll ever ask, I promise.”

Lalli takes his eyes off the road for just a second to give Tuuri an indecipherable look. She shrugs.

“I should have been paying more attention,” says Lalli. “I should have been faster.”

“Ugh. Not about _that._ ”

“What else is there?” Lalli asks.

As usual, he’s going to make her do all the work. Well, it could be worse. If it was Onni, she’d get lectures and crying.

She misses Onni sharper than a knife. She is _not_ going to think about what this will do to him. She’s the one who’s dead, she shouldn’t have to worry about everyone else. “Was it really cool when Onni summoned Kokko and burned up all the trolls? I wish I could have seen that,” she says. “Do you think that Siv and the rest of the researchers will be able to make anything of what we found? Maybe it doesn’t work but I bet it’s not a total dead end. It’ll turn out to be worth it, you’ll see. I’m _glad_ I came. It wasn’t just a stupid whim.”

Not that he ever said it was. Not that he ever said anything about it at all. Not that there’s any point in trying to pick an argument with Lalli now, especially since she knows it won’t work. She makes her voice lighter again.

“Maybe it’ll turn out to be such a success that they’ll fund Sigrun’s expedition to Chinaland. Wouldn’t that be amazing? You should go.”

“No,” says Lalli. “I’m going home. Turn left here.”

Tuuri does. The tank handles like a dream. The treads slip free of the earth and find their grip on starlight. Swallows flit past the windshield, calling greetings back and forth.

Up ahead, in the distance, Tuuri hears the rushing of endless water.


End file.
